


Espresso Squared

by LadyLuckOfMine



Category: Sense8 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, I'm so sorry, M/M, Multi, lito being a drama queen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-14
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-26 10:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5001205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLuckOfMine/pseuds/LadyLuckOfMine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lito's life has changed a lot in a really short amount of time, and he's not quite sure what to make of it all. Too bad he's already making a big mess of it, and that cute barista won't stop smiling...</p><p>In which Lito is a drama student, who can't form words around a super cute barista, and he has gay culture shock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Americano

Lito had never imagined that he would someday make it into Julliard. Well, he had imagined it, he had dreamed it, but he had never really _believed_ in it. It felt beyond surreal as he stared up at the Rose Building, where the top thirteen floors were set aside for students to live on campus, his mouth dry.

His grip on his suitcase tightened, grasping onto it as if it were a lifeline and he was in the middle of the ocean. So many emotions were swirling within him. Lito wasn’t quite sure how he actually felt.

This was a dream come true, and Lito was still scared that he would blink and find himself back home, sharing a bed with his cousins and brothers, while the adults watch telenovelas. It just didn’t feel real.

His family hadn’t been able to come with him to see him off. They had had a huge farewell party, and a tearful departure at the airport, and Lito was glad for that. He already felt close to tears as he looked around, letting it all sink in. Had his mother been here, Lito knew that they both would have been in tears, clinging to one another. Because Lito had done it. He had been given a ticket to be someone big, to be something more than just another poor man, dreaming of a better life.

Lito couldn’t believe how absolutely blessed he was in this moment.

New York was colder than rural Mexico, and he couldn’t help but shiver as an early autumn breeze passed through him, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was starting to feel real, and as it became realer, Lito felt like he might throw up.

The storm of emotions inside of him felt all too much, and his stomach twisted and turned, threatening to toss out the stale airplane food. This was his dream, Lito wasn’t sure why he felt so scared when in the face of it. He had spent his whole life longing for something like this to happen, and now that it was, now that he was here, he was chickening out?

“Hey! Welcome to Julliard!” Lito’s eyes widened in surprise as a woman with a large orange cart began to race over to him, with a large smile on her face. She was practically vibrating with energy as she just managed to stop the cart before running over a fear stricken Lito. Her hair was pulled back in multi-coloured dreads, and everything about her screamed friendly. Which might have been why Lito found himself so terrified.

“H… Hola,” he managed to choke out, at a loss for words. Luckily, the woman seemed to have been expecting that, as she quickly made up for the awkward silence that most likely would have followed.

“Oh, an international student, eh? I hope I’m not talking too fast for you, I’m just _really_ pumped up for move in day! I’m Amanita,” she said. Lito nodded, trying to muster a smile to his face. He was supposed to be an actor, one who would make it big in the world. Why was it so hard acting calm and aloof?

“I… I am Lito,” he replied, rubbing at his shoulder.

“Well, it is very nice to meet you, Lito, and welcome to Julliard!” Amanita had to be the life of every party she went to. Lito found himself admiring how friendly and enthusiastic she was, while he was just an awkward ball of nerves, desperately scrambling to act normal. “Now, since you’re new here, why don’t you put your belongings in this orange cart, and I’ll take them to your dorm for you! It’s a bit of a tradition here that newcomers don’t have to take all their junk to their rooms. Because as you’re already experiencing, I bet, this is a lot to take in.”

“I have to admit,” Lito began, handing Amanita his suitcase and his other belongings, “I would probably find it much easier to believe that my Uncle Sanchez is Jesus than that I am really here.”

Amanita laughed, and Lito was pretty sure that he and she could become good friends. She patted him on the shoulder, still smiling. Her smile was infectious as well. But in the best way. He hoped that he would see more of her.

“Yeah, my first year here, which was actually last year, so don’t go thinking I’m old,” Amanita said, wiggling a finger at Lito. “Well, anyway, it was so surreal for the first few days. Trust me, you’ll miss it once midterms and auditions role around. But, anyway, I gotta jet, so I’ll figure out where your room is, and drop your stuff off there, m’kay?”

“Uh, yeah, totally, thank you!” Lito called after her as she speed off. It was hard to believe that someone could have so much energy, and it was kind of intimidating. What if he was boring to everyone? What if he couldn’t make friends with anyone? Everyone seemed to be running around, screaming and shouting, and Lito felt so out of place. It was like everyone already had a friend here.

That’s when it hit him.

He was alone in a strange country, miles away from his family.

He hoped his roommate wouldn’t get too angry at him if he wound up crying that night.

“Are you new on campus too?” a soft voice asked from behind him. He jumped, whipping around to find the source of the voice. With wide eyes, he found a small woman with bleached hair. A single streak of electric blue ran through it. Having never seen people with such vibrant colours on display in their hair, Lito couldn’t help but to stare in amazement at the blue. This place was so much different that his little village. He knew that his grandfather would never believe him if he told him about the blue streak.

Soft, hazel eyes looked up at him, and he couldn’t help but believe the woman had to be some sort of mythical creature. Because this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. He had to be dreaming, or in a coma, just… Something, straight out of a telenovela. He wasn’t ready for this to become a reality yet. There was no way he was truly at Julliard.

She smiled at him, looking about as nervous as he felt. Her smile was soft and soothing, however, and he couldn’t help but to smile back at her. If only his stomach could stop and smile as well. He really did not want to barf on someone the first day he got here. That would be a very bad omen.

“Sí, I am!” he said shakily, holding a hand out to her. She shook it, and Lito took note of how calloused her finger tips were. He figured she was probably a musician of some sort. She looked like it. Not that Lito was one to stereotype based off of appearances. There was just something about her that made him think of beautiful music, and heart beating bass. “I am Lito… Lito Rodrigeuz.”

“Riley Blue.”

Lito laughed slightly, eyes darting to the streak of blue in her hair. “Is that what the blue streak is for?” he asked, smiling still. Riley reached up to run her fingers through the blue hair, tilting her head to the side.

“Yes, it is. I just gone it done, actually. I’m glad it’s an obvious connection. You’re living on campus too, right?” Riley asked.

“Yes, I am. I haven’t much clue where I’m going though,” he said, looking back at the Rose Building. “I think it’s somewhere in there. At least, that’s what the pamphlet is saying. Though I’ve never been anywhere that actually had its own pamphlet. Well, no, there was one time my father took me to this wilderness resort, and that had a pamphlet, but that was a totally different sort of pamphlet. But there was also this girl, Amanita, who took my stuff, said it was tradition, and ran off in that direction. So I guess I either got robbed, though she looked too friendly to be a thief, which would make her a good one, or that is indeed where we go. I am sorry, I am rambling, aren’t I?”

Riley nodded her head, kind smile still on her lips. She took Lito’s hand again, which felt giant in comparison to her own. Lito bit his lower lip, clearing his throat. He was already making a fool out of himself. Perhaps it would have been better if he had stayed back home.

“It’s alright. I’m really nervous as well,” she said, giving Lito’s hand a squeeze. “How about we go look for our dorms together? It’s rather intimidating, isn’t it?”

“Intimidating doesn’t feel like a strong enough word!” Lito said with a laugh. He didn’t know any word in English or Spanish that was strong enough to describe the situation. It was both so happy and fearful, and Lito was confused. Though that was never really a surprise for anyone.

Together, the two set off to try and find their respective dorm rooms, both sharing stories about their departures from their homes (they were both international students and as such, neither of their families had been able to come), and finding out more about each other.

Riley was indeed a musician, as Lito had suspected, and was doing a degree in music composition. Lito wasn’t very musically inclined himself, which he then proved to her with a terrifying rendition of Celine Dione’s “My Heart Will Go On”. A few heads turned to look at him, and Lito smiled and waved at them, not really caring about the impression he was making on them.

He was in Julliard! He was starting to feel pure excitement again, and really didn’t care.

Out of politeness, Riley had tried to defend his singing, saying he was being too hard on himself. Yet when he heard her sing, he found it much harder to believe that he sounded like anything other than a dying cat.

They parted ways with an exchange of emails (as Lito had to admit to her that because of his family’s situation, he had never really been able to get a cellphone), and a promise to meet up later to check out a café they heard some of the senior students raving about. His family would be glad to hear that he had already made a friend. Even more so when they heard that his new friend was a girl. He could already feel their prying questions about whether or not he found her attractive, and if she was single.

Even in a new world, so different from his old one, some things would never change.

Alone in his room, since his roommate apparently hadn’t arrived yet, Lito found himself with a moment to finally let everything sink in. He glanced around, taking in the room. There were two bunkbeds, and each side of the room had a matching desk and chair, a set of drawers, and a closet. It seemed like whoever he was roommates with, unless they were a serious hoarder, they would have plenty of space.

His things were piled on one of the bottom bunks, and a small smile graced his lips as he saw a little bag set on top of the pile. He picked it up, finding a hastily written note on the side of it.

‘Hey Leeto,’ it read, a smile drawn next to it. ‘Enjoy your welcome week package! Don’t use everything in one place, amigo! ;)’

Lito chuckled at the misspelling of his name, before looking into the bag. His face reddened when he saw the contents. He quickly closed the bag, and made his way to the top drawer on his side of his room, and hid it in there.

Maybe it was just his rural upbringing, but he wasn’t quite ready to face the contents of that bag. Well, everything asides from the gum. And there might have been more appropriate stuff in there, but he wouldn’t know. The first few things he had seen were too much for his heart. And he didn’t know when his roommate would be walking in, so he didn’t need to be caught with a box of condoms and lube in hand.

He unpacked for a bit, before his laptop informed him that he had received a new email. His family had helped him save up to buy one, and while it was far from top notch, it worked, and that was all that mattered.

He smiled when he saw that it was Riley asking to meet up at the café they had heard the senior students talking about earlier. He sent a quick reply, saying he would meet her there, before grabbing his winter jacket (because he needed it in this weather, how did the Americans stand it?) and hurrying to go meet up with her.

* * *

 

“Can I take your order, sir?”

Lito liked to imagine that he was a very smooth, a very charismatic man. Though it was just his luck that he would completely blank on every word he knew, in both Spanish and English, with one look at a cute barista’s face.

“Uh…” Lito said, oh so helpfully, as he blinked owlishly, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment as the barista’s raised a thick brow. What an impression Lito must have been making on the other. The barista looked like a hipster, from the thick rimmed glasses, to the pretentious art magazine set off to the side, open to some long, small print article about some weird abstract painting.

Yeah, Lito would definitely hear people on campus talking about the weird guy who couldn’t order a coffee at the café across the street.

“Are you alright, sir?” the barista asked. Lito wasn’t sure if he wanted to feign an illness or not. Was it taboo to be seen sick in an American café? He didn’t know. Hell, he didn’t even know what it was he had been trying to order! The barista’s face was too damn distracting.

Best not to kiss it.

“Uh, um, lo… lo siento,” he managed to say, wincing when he realized that that was Spanish, not English. He was in America, he had to speak English. He _could_ speak English. Just not at that moment. “Um… My… My English, it is… not good?” What a lie, what an evil lie, Lito, he mentally scolded himself. Yes, he was Mexican, but did he had to pretend to be the stereotypical Mexican? Here he was, a full scholarship to attend Julliard, a man who could bring respect back to his people, and he just told a cute barista that he could barely speak English.

Nice, Lito, real nice.

“Yo hablo español.”

Lito really hoped his smile didn’t look strained. He really hoped not. It just seemed like he was meant to embarrass himself in front of this barista. What was the barista’s name anyway? Lito tried to look sneakily at the other’s name tag, but apparently the amazing acting that had gotten him admitted into Julliard wasn’t going to work when he really needed it.

“Me llamo Hernando.”

That was a nice name… Lito blinked, and quickly shook his head, trying to clear it of the fog, hoping that he might manage to pull himself together.

It was a good thing they were pretty much the only people in this shop, asides from a couple giggling off to the side of the room, over a laptop. Lito was sure that he would have never been able to live this down if anyone in his classes saw him failing to order a simple coffee.

“Hernando. Nice name. Very… Spanish,” Lito said lamely, looking up at the menu on the wall behind the barista, praying that he would find a way to dig himself out of this mess. In Spanish, he continued, “I’m so sorry about this. I am so very jet lagged, it’s not even funny.”

Another lie. New York was only an hour ahead of his hometown in Mexico. Could he pass as a Spaniard? Maybe. His dad was one, from Barcelona, so he liked to think he could imitate the accent and dialect. After all, the other was obviously from Mexico, so Lito really hoped he had no idea what the Spain dialects sounded like.

While he was at it, he might as well have told the other man he was straight and had nine kids, and ten dogs, and was actually French.

“You don’t sound very French.” Lito laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. He had said that out loud, it seemed.

“I, uh… Um… Can I get an espresso? Just… an espresso. Maybe a double espresso? Two of them? Espresso squared,” Lito said, looking anywhere but at the cute barista, who probably thought he was the strangest man to ever walk into the café.

“A single espresso squared is still just a single espresso,” Hernando said, a small smile spreading across his lips. Lito found that he rather liked it when the other smiled. It was very nice. Very adorable. Very kissable.

There was no way that he would ever get a date with this guy.

“Um… Espresso… Times two? Ahaha! It’s a good thing I’m not a mathematician!” Lito said, wanting to just curl up into a ball and cry. But that would be weird. Well, weirder than he was being right now.

“I don’t think you need two espressos right now,” Hernando said, that smile still on his lips. Lito was pretty sure it was mocking at this point. He didn’t mind though. A mocking smile from such perfect lips was more beautiful than any smile he had ever received. Or something like that.

“You’re right. I don’t need two espressos. In fact, I don’t even need one espresso! Or any caffeine at all, so sorry for wasting your time, bye!”

With that, Lito practically sprinted from the café, face on fire. He was almost down the block when he saw Riley, and had to skid to a stop. Riley looked at him, obviously confused.

“Is something wrong?” she asked. Lito furiously shook his head, panting as he tried to figure out what words he needed to explain how badly he had fucked up.

“Um, no, nothing is wrong, I just… Ah, there was a barista, and then embarrassment, and then um, it was very, very bad,” Lito explained, looking down at his feet. He didn’t want to go into the details, because he was sure he had made an utter fool of himself.

“A cute barista? That made you sprint from the café? Was it really that bad?” Riley asked. “Because if it was, we can find somewhere else to go get coffee.”

Riley looked disappointed. Lito was raised to never let a woman down. He would just have to swallow his pride and return to the café. After all, a hero never ran, or turned away from a challenge. And he wanted to be a hero. At least on the television.

“No! We can go back there. I’m sure I cannot embarrass myself this time!” he exclaimed, taking Riley by the hand and leading her to the café. She smiled at him, and he wasn’t sure what it meant. But he smiled back, since it seemed like the right thing to do.

She was nice. He was sure the smile wasn’t mocking, unlike the cute barista’s smile. Though he liked the cute barista’s more.


	2. Double Shot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, but I decided to use this story for Nano, and wanted to wait so that I could use the second chapter as my starting point for that 50,000 word goal. 
> 
> I also just started today, so...

The bell for the café chimed as he opened the door for Riley to enter, offering her a charming smile. She smiled back at him, heading to the counter where the cute barista was.

Lito could feel his stomach twisting in knots as he followed Riley, his gaze focusing up on the menu board again, praying that he wouldn’t have to look at the barista more than absolutely necessary. He feared that his cheeks would burst with blood if he did, and it would make a terrible mess everywhere.

It wasn’t fair that someone that cute was allowed to be a barista. Surely there had to be some law against it for the greater good of the socially inept such as himself.

“Welcome! Or perhaps welcome back is a more proper greeting?” Hernando said, and Lito could feel his gaze upon him. It just made his feeling of embarrassment even worse, and he wished for the floor to open up underneath him and swallow him whole.

Curses on cute, hipster baristas.

“Hi,” Riley said, offering a warm smile. “Can I get a medium chai tea? And Lito? What do you want?”

Lito internally cursed as he tried to figure out what he had to order. Since saying ‘nothing’ would just remove all meaning for him being here with Riley. Plus, he really could go for a cup of coffee…

He scanned the board, taking in the strange names of different coffee creations he had never even heard of. He was but a poor, simple rural boy, whose only ever coffee experiences were with whatever his family had made. He didn’t think this café served the same thing. He wasn’t even sure what it would be called in English.

“Um… I, uh… Just a black coffee? Medium?” he finally said, hoping that was up there.

“What blend?” Hernando asked, smiling in what was surely a mocking manner at Lito. Here he was, making an uncultured fool of himself again.

“Um… I—“ He had no idea what any of the blends were. He didn’t see them listed on the board. Luckily, it seemed like Hernando had had enough of Lito’s blubbering, and held up a hand to stop him.

“How about I just make you something as a surprise? I take it you haven’t actually been to a café like this before,” Hernando said. Riley giggled, and Lito really hoped he wasn’t blushing too much.

“Ah, yes, that would be fine. And, no, I haven’t really… Been to a place with so many coffee options,” he admitted, looking up at the ceiling, just anywhere other than where he would see those two smiling faces. If he had known ordering coffee here would be so much work, he would have studied.

“Well, since it’s your first time, we’ll make it on the house,” Hernando said with a wink. Lito was sure that up there, somewhere, someone was trying to kill him.

Hernando went to work making their drinks, and as soon as he was far enough away not to hear, Riley turned to him, snickering softly.

“Oh, he is very cute,” she whispered to him. “And I’m pretty sure he’s into you.”

Lito laughed at that, feeling uncomfortable. All his life, he had been taught that the only right feelings were those between a man and a woman. While he knew America was a lot more open about… these things, Lito knew he wasn’t to ever be a part of it. He couldn’t… do that to his family. Riley didn’t seem to pick up on his discomfort though.

“You should ask him out, or something,” she said, poking Lito in the belly. He took a step back, shaking his head furiously.

“No,” he said, maybe a little too loudly, as it drew Hernando’s attention back to them. Lito smiled, rather weakly, and Hernando shrugged, returning to making the drinks. Riley raised an eyebrow, tilting her head.

“No?” she whispered, making a show of being quiet to Lito.

“I… I am not like _that_ ,” was his response, and he winced at how it came out. Riley stared at him, and for a moment, he feared that she might slap him. Was she a supporter? He wasn’t sure how to deal with that. His family had always been stern on how much of a sin homosexuality was.

“Right,” she said, and it was with so much disinterest clear in his voice, that it made Lito feel sick. He had messed up. He should have kept his mouth shut.

Hernando came back, a cheeky smile on his too-handsome face, and handed them their drinks.

Lito looked at his, which was topped with whipped cream, and appeared to have cinnamon sprinkled on top. He blinked, looking up at Hernando who encouraged him to try it with a gesture of his hand.

It didn’t look like any coffee he had ever had before.

Tentatively, Lito brought the paper cup to his lips, sipping at it. Well, that was the plan. What really happened was he inhaled whipped cream and cinnamon, and then burnt his lips on the coffee. Which only caused him to inhale more whipped cream and cinnamon. It was a cruel cycle, and Lito was sure he was going to die.

Riley and Hernando looked horrified, Riley grabbing the cup from Lito before he could spill it all over himself, and Hernando quickly wiping at his face with a napkin.

“Dios mio,” Lito whined, taking the napkin from Hernando and blowing his nose in it, in a pitiful attempt to get the whipped cream and cinnamon out. His whole face now hurt, and he was pretty sure his brain was on fire.

“Oh god, are you alright?” Riley asked, setting the coffee down on a nearby table so that she could take Lito’s face in her hands, and look him over like a worried mother. Lito laughed, though it hurt, so he winced, rubbing furiously at his nose with the napkin.

“I have felt worse pains,” he said. “Like a bull to the stomach.” Now both Riley and Hernando were staring at him in horror again, so Lito laughed. “It was very good, though. Asides from the nearly dying. The coffee, I mean. Can I get a straw please?”

Hernando still looked somewhere between horrified, and confused, but he quickly grabbed a straw for Lito, handing it over to him. Lito smiled at him, though he was sure he looked pretty unattractive at this moment, after that fiasco.

The chime of the doorbell alerted them all to other patrons entering the café, and Hernando excused himself to go tend to them.

Together, Lito and Riley sat down at a table, as Lito tried to clean himself up as best as possible. He had nose whipped cream and cinnamon on his shirt. His aunt would have whacked him upside the head for getting anything on his clothes. He could imagine her cries if she had seen what had happened.

“I think you’re cursed,” Riley said after a moment of silence between them. Lito looked up at her, raising an eyebrow.

“Cursed? What do you mean by that?” he asked.

“I mean, you must have pissed someone off. You keep embarrassing yourself in front of that barista,” she said, with a shrug of her shoulders. “Also, I think he wrote his number on the side of the cup. Yeah, you are definitely cursed.”

Lito blinked, before checking the cup. Riley was right. There, in neat writing, was a phone number, with a message for Lito to text it some time. He swallowed heavily, busying himself with drinking the piping hot coffee through the straw.

He wasn’t like… _that_. He could control it. He was strong, and he wouldn’t dishonour his family like that. Even though it was really tempting to…

Lito silently cursed himself when he caught himself staring at the barista. He quickly averted his attention back to Riley who was watching him with a knowing look in her eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking men, you know,” she said quietly. Lito bit the inside of his cheek, inhaling heavily.

“Maybe for you. It’s different when you are yourself, a man,” Lito mumbled, using the straw to scoop up some of the whipped cream to his mouth. It wasn’t something he wanted to discuss, ever. Some small part of him was sure that it was a joke anyway. There was no way Hernando would be interested in a bumbling fool like him.

“Bullshit,” Riley said, shocking Lito as she raised her voice. Everyone looked over at them, and Lito smiled sheepishly, before fixing Riley with a soft glare.

“Those are my beliefs, and I would like it if you respected them,” Lito said. “If I did have… Homosexual desires for any man, I would never act on them. That’s my choice.”

“Sounds like a pretty shitty choice to me,” Riley grumbled, but Lito ignored her. He glanced over to the barista, who smiled at him, and Lito was sure it was definitely mocking. Surely everyone was having a good laugh at him for being burdened with these sinful desires…

“It sometimes seems that way,” Lito mumbled so softly, that he was sure Riley wouldn’t have been able to hear him.

The rest of their coffee date went by in silence, the conversation having fallen flat far too quickly. In the back of his head, all he could hear were voices of doubt telling him that he had screwed up, that he should have just kept his mouth shut. Or he should have played it off as him actually not being gay, somehow. He could have denied it, and said no more.

With no conversation, the two finished their respective drinks quickly, without any more near death experiences. It was as they were leaving, that Lito thought he should try to make things better. He hadn’t really thought that through though, and so he caught Riley’s arm, just before she opened the door.

“Ah, could you wait for me?” Lito asked, his voice quiet, him obviously unsure of himself. “There is something I need to do real quick?” It came out more like a question, though subconsciously he had probably meant for it to sound that way. A part of him hoped she would say no, but she was the only person he knew here so far, and he didn’t want to burn a bridge his first day here.

Someone up there really did hate him. That, he knew for sure.

Riley smiled at him, hesitantly, as if she had guessed what it was he wanted to do, but she wasn’t exactly sure of it just yet. Lito was sure he must have paled visibly, because she patted him on the bicep in what he supposed was a comforting gesture. It was too late to back out now.

Lito turned on his heel, and made his way over to the counter, where Hernando, thankfully, had no customers waiting about. Lito didn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of a crowd. At least, not yet. He was sure it would happen eventually, he just prayed that it wouldn’t be today.

Though praying seemed like a bad idea, considering what he was about to do.

Hernando came over, a look of curiosity on his face. Really, the man had quite an impressive face. A strong jaw and noise, thick brows over beautiful hazel eyes, and thick, tortoiseshell glasses pulling your gaze towards those wonderful eyes… Lito would have been jealous of this man’s luck in the genetic lottery, but Lito was confident in his own appearance, and saw no reason to be jealous of someone else’s beauty.

“I,” Lito began, taking a long pause as the words got stuck in his throat. Hernando raised a brow, and tilted his head to the side. It was adorable, Lito decided. And he was oh so very gay for this man. Gay squared. “I appreciated the drink, but um…”

“Yes? Was something wrong with it?” Hernando asked. Now Lito was just confusing the poor man.

“I don’t… Have a phone? A cellphone?” Lito said, suddenly taking interest in looking up at the ceiling, that way he couldn’t watch as understanding dawned over Hernando’s face.

“O-oh, I am sorry for presuming that…” Hernando said, sounding ashamed, which quickly drew Lito’s attention back to him. Lito shook his head.

“Oh no! It is my fault for not having a cellphone!” Lito said.

“Well, I just thought since—“

Lito cut the other off with a strange noise, and that drew everyone’s attention to him, as he figured out that he and Hernando were not on the same page. He felt his cheeks start to heat up, and he wanted nothing more than for the floor to open up and swallow him whole.

“No,” he said much quietly. “I really do not have a cellphone. I didn’t even live in a place with reception, so it would have been useless, and apparently they are very common, but I don’t have one. Not yet anyway. I’ll probably get one. I am sorry, I’m rambling. I have an email though?” He winced. This was it. This was when Hernando figured out that he was a simple country bumpkin, and he would be laughed out of the shop, never to return again.

That didn’t happen.

Hernando was suddenly gone, standing at the other end of the counter, scribbling down something on a napkin, before taking a few quick steps back to him.

“My email then,” Hernando said, a small smile on his face. “And a verbal proposal for a date as well?”

A date. Oh no. Lito had just been explaining his lack of phone. He hadn’t been expecting a date quite yet. Or at all. Lito was but a blubbering baby, trying to making it in America, and now someone was asking him on the date, but it felt more like a marriage proposal. If he said yes now, he would be committed to this. There would be no backing out. He wouldn’t be able to shame his ancestors like that.

Then again, Hernando was a man, so this date was already shameful. Lito was certain he was going to Hell in a handbasket now. Even Satan would find his despicable.

“Sí,” he said, though it sounded more like it was being choked out of him. Hernando, bless him, seemed to have picked up on Lito’s over dramatic nature, as he smiled (mockingly! Lito thought) at him, and quickly scribbled something down on the paper.

“Then is this Saturday okay for you?” he asked, handing the paper out to Lito. Lito nodded, sure he had to be as red as a tomato by now. “Then that’s the address to a nearby museum. We could meet up there around maybe, eleven A.M.?”

“Y-yeah, sounds good,” Lito said, completely flustered by what had just happened. Someone up there was getting one hell of a good laugh out of this, and Lito hoped they got transferred downstairs for it. He wasn’t quite sure what he had done to deserve this. “I… I should be going now, but yes, Saturday, eleven, good.”

Lito pretty much power walked out the door, Riley following behind him, a large smile on her face.

“Please, not a word,” Lito said, when he finally slowed down enough for her to be able to keep up with him without sprinting. Riley pretended to zip her lips shut, but her satisfied smirk was more than enough torture for Lito.

 

**Author's Note:**

> There's going to be more characters appearing in this, and I'll tag them, and other things that might happen, as it shows up in each chapter. Also, I speak very little Spanish, so if you see anything wrong, point it out. Unlike Lito, I speak French much better than Spanish.
> 
> I love this overdramatic puppy man. And I'm so sorry that my writing is so dry in this. I couldn't get into the swing of it. And after four hours of editing, I give up.


End file.
